By: Laura Phillips
I have known Michael Pryor for quite some time. He’s had significant experience both at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and within law firms and I was delighted that he was able to take some time to talk with me about building a career over the years and perspectives on success. Michael is currently with a Denver-based firm, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, and is based in their Washington DC office. He is a Member of the firm and he concentrates on telecommunications-related policy, regulation, compliance and litigation matters.
Q. What attracted you to the field of communications?
A. After completing law school I had the opportunity to clerk for Judge Harold Greene, which those of a certain age will remember as overseeing the AT&T antitrust case and the resulting modified final judgment (MFJ) which formed the basis of serious interexchange telecommunications competition as a result of a settlement between DOJ and AT&T. I did so not because of his ongoing oversight of the MFJ, but because I wanted to get into litigation. In pursuing that goal, I had asked around for opinions to identify the really good trial judges in the area, and he was at the top of many lists. After the clerkship, I did start out in litigation in the Washington office of Davis Polk. After several years, the office was being downsized and I found myself with the choice either of moving to New York and continuing with the pace and “glamour” of the types of litigation one associates with being an associate at high end New York firms or going in a different direction. As I was tiring of litigation, I started looking for a regulatory practice. As it so happened, this was about the time that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the 1996 Act) was passed, putting my former boss Judge Greene out of the MFJ business but also portending really interesting changes in the telecommunications industry. I was lucky enough to get a job at the FCC – thank you Carol Mattey for hiring me – and I got totally hooked on communications. I started at the Policy Division of the Common Carrier Bureau about three weeks after the 1996 Act passed, so I had an amazing time with implementation rulemakings, Section 271 proceedings and other issues.
Q. Tell us about the various places you’ve worked through the years.
A. When I first moved to Washington I worked for a Congressman from my home state and then spent several years working for the Democratic Study Group in the House and went to law school at night. Since then, apart from several years spent happily at the FCC, I have been in private practice, originally at Mintz Levin and now with Brownstein.
Q. Have things unfolded in your career more or less the way you planned?
A. That assumes I had a plan. A bit of personal history is necessary for context. I was born and raised in Spokane Washington and absolutely loved being in the outdoors. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to focus on in college and ended up graduating from Western Washington University in Bellingham with a degree in geology. As I never had a solid career plan in college, it never occurred to me that I might end up becoming a lawyer at some point. The path I took after geology was to get into a graduate political science program, which then had me leaving Washington state for Washington DC to intern with a Congressman from Washington and then eventually going to Georgetown Law School in the evening program. Then I was a litigator and then I was at the FCC. So, there are no straight lines in my path, just a lot zigs and zags. But I feel like I ended up in a good place.
Q. What’s the most interesting or challenging thing that you’ve done in your current position?
A. I don’t know if there is one thing as I have been at this for some time! But over the past five or six years I’ve done a lot of policy work around robocalls and the various regulatory efforts to curb illegal calls. The challenge for my practice and the clients I serve has been to try to convince regulators to maintain some balance between curbing illegal traffic without overly restricting legal calls. This continues to be an imperfect situation and is a tough balancing act.
Q. Is or was there something interesting or someone who surprised or impressed you during your career and why?
A. I have been lucky to work with a number of very good lawyers over the years. But when I think back, one person that really stood out for me was Richard Metzger, who probably needs no introduction to many FCBA members. During the very hectic time of implementing the 1996 Act in the FCC’s old Common Carrier Bureau his dedication to that task and the encyclopedic knowledge he brought to bear was notable and impressive.
Q. What do you enjoy reading?
A. I’m a bit all over the place in terms of my reading tastes. I read history and biographies and enjoy good literature – and the occasional crime novel (Tony Hillerman comes to mind). Books I’ve read over the past year that I really liked include Boys in the Boat, the Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson, and Trust by Hernan Diaz.
Q. Is there something (a hobby or other tidbit) people don’t know about you that you are willing to share?
A. As I noted above, I have a degree in geology and actually worked as geologist for a [very] brief period of time. That first post-college job that involved walking in the woods in very straight lines, no matter what lay ahead. The company was laying a grid to map out potential mineral deposits in the Central Cascades in Oregon. That project made me rethink whether geology and I were a match meant to be. But I love hiking and still like to puzzle over rock formations. That and I love playing tennis.
Q. Can you share your perspective on the pitfalls to avoid or other career advice for those who are just getting started in the communications field?
A. Be open to possibilities and opportunities. Try different things and don’t be afraid to leave something behind if it’s not doing it for you. Sometimes the need for career exploration is triggered just by recognizing that the circumstances of your work have changed, or that you’ve gotten all you can in terms of learning and development from a particular position. For example, I left the FCC what to me seemed like the end of an era in terms of reviewing the Bell Operating Company applications under Section 271 to enter the interexchange markets. I had the opportunity to work at a law firm and over the years the focus on my practice has shifted from CLECs to internet companies and expanded from wireline to wireless and into TCPA compliance. Telecommunications technology shifts require always being ready to move into different areas and it’s important to understand that client needs shift as well.
Q. How has your life changed as a result of COVID-19 and what are you looking forward to doing next?
A. Like everyone else I’m spending a lot more time working from home and getting to like that. In terms of next – the country just moved in a completely different direction, and it will be interesting to see what changes are coming in policy and regulation both for telecommunications and more generally.
Professionally, I still really enjoy the practice of law, and I value the opportunity to create and craft a good policy or legal argument and consider what might be the best counter argument to it. I still look forward to engaging with new clients that have new technologies that they can bring to the market to address challenges.
Q. How long have you been an FCBA member, and what to you is the value of FCBA membership?
A. A long time. I’m not as active as I once was, working on the CLE committee and some other committees, particularly the wireline committee, over time. The FCBA always has been a great resource for me. I appreciate the panels, CLEs and brown bags, as they all are great ways to get up to speed on areas I don’t typically focus on. And of course, the FCBA represents a built-in way to network with others in the field.